29 Years in the Making

     President Reagan, Michael Jackson, and Pope John Paul walk into a bar. So, are you wondering where this joke is going and what the punchline is? Well, it's not a joke, at least not these three guys. The scary (some would say funny) part is that these three guys were alive and well and were three of the biggest figures in the world in 1985. And that just so happens to be the same year the Royals last made the playoffs. Until now. As I type, the Royals have been qualified for the postseason for just eight minutes. And I would be lying if I said I wasn't misty-eyed as I type. But I am almost 37 years old and this is really the first time I have experienced a Royals team making the playoffs. But what about 1985??



      Well, I was 7 years old. I don't remember any of the Royals playoff games, but I am sure they were on our black and white TV that sat in the kitchen. That TV was always on, because it was our 2nd TV and not many people had a 2nd TV yet. Who cares that it only got 5 channels and was only 13 inches. And who cares you had to walk up to it every time you wanted to adjust the channel or volume. Everyone's TV was like that. We had a "big screen" TV in the livingroom. It was huge! If I remember right, it was a 23-inch TV and was in color. It had the prettiest (and heaviest) wooden box around it, which was great because that allowed us to rest our VCR on top of it (much later of course!). But if I did watch a World Series game that year, I would likely remember the turf fields in Kansas City and St. Louis and would look at the backs of my baseball cards to see how many stolen bases Willie Wilson or Daryl Motley had compared to Vince Coleman and Willie McGee. Who cared about Home Runs, they were rare and they were not how you win games. This was 1985 and the championship teams were built on pitching, speed, and defense. Sure Steve Balboni could hit 25 or more HRs if he had a good season, but that was only a bonus.


     
       So while the game was on and my oldest brother watched each game of his favorite Royals team, I looked at the baseball cards (okay...stole them from him) and when I got bored, I grabbed He-Man, Man-At-Arms, and Skeletor and staged an epic battle in my Castle Greyskull. Didn't matter which toy was built better, I could control who would win and that was always He-Man. Baseball wasn't like that as much, but up until 1985, my newly adopted Royals won a lot more than they lost. In 1985, they even won the World Series. This was a pretty good team to latch on to. Winning tradition, great young pitching, hitters in their prime, and a guy named Bo Jackson winning the Heisman trophy (over Chuck Long...what??! By 45 total votes??) would soon sign with KC. Who wouldn't sign up for that fandom? Well, I did. I drank the Kook-Aid (only thing I could legally drink at that age) and started collecting baseball cards on my own, ripping open the packs and finding the Royals and knowing they would be valuable because, well, because they were "Royal".



       And much like the farm we were growing up on, I learned nothing in life is predictable. After a few more successful years but just missing the playoffs, the decade called the 1990s happened. The prime of my life....age 13 to age 23...the perfect time to support your favorite teams and mock your friends who liked the losers. But my friends mocked me. I was a fan of the loser now. Ripping open baseball card packs wasn't as fun anymore because the Royals were the cards you tossed in the box because they had no value. And since packs were now over $1 a pack, I couldn't waste money on these guys anymore. Sure I might get a Jeter rookie, but what if he never amounts to anything? The Royals were who I wanted and even that want was gone. The Royals never lost 100 games in the 1990s, but they sure tried. And they continued to spend very little in hopes of becoming very good. It didn't work. It almost worked in 1994, but then the Strike happened. And while the Royals came back from the strike trying to play "small-ball", the rest of the league magically grew bigger and stronger and hit the ball a lot farther. The Royals pitchers have tried to forget the steroid era ever since then, but they likely will grow old with neck pain from whipping their heads around to see how far those hits actually went and if they cleared the fountains beyond the fences entirely. And if the economy crashed in 1999, somehow the Royals crashed even more.




       The turn of the century brought an even worse losing streak to the point the Royals became the butt of many jokes. I entered the work force and even with KC being the closest MLB team, no one was really a fan of this team anymore. Eight of the first ten seasons of this new century found the Royals losing 93 or more games each season. But this decade wasn't all bad. My wife and I started adding to our family. With our first child being a boy, he was destined to be a Royals fan. We added four more kids since then and Jackson has grown into a 9-year old Royals superfan despite more years of losing. But he went to bed tonight knowing that I would hopefully wake him up tomorrow morning with the news that KC is in the playoffs. He will be excited, he will tell his friends, and he will make fun of his friends who like other "loser" teams. But I will have to sit him down and caution him about the last 29 years and how he needs to enjoy the ride for now. And even if the ride is only one game, it is still a ride he has never been on, and really a ride I have never been on. And we can't wait!




        So, the Royals are in the playoffs. They traded away several of their best prospects to get a couple veteran pitchers. They brought up their entire farm system and took their lumps. They brought in a couple other players here and there. And then they played a brand of baseball that the league hadn't seen in nearly 30 years. Their players don't walk and they don't hit HRs. They don't strike out either. They simply hit the ball on the ground and run as fast as they can. If they happen to be called safe, they start running around the bases every time the pitcher tries to pitch. And their pitchers...well, they are unique too. The starters have a goal to get to the seventh inning and then let any one of four relievers who throw 100 mph or more take over. Two of these pitchers at one point didn't give up a run for over two months!! And despite this unique brand of baseball, they still found themselves in dead last place after the first quarter of the season. They took over first place a couple times this year and fell well behind first place a couple times this year. But they didn't give up....they never gave up. And now with three games left, they know they are in the playoffs. But they won't give up yet as they still have a chance to win the division. And when it is all over, the playoffs will begin and the players will play this time. They won't head home. They won't go on vacation. They won't go play in the fall league. They will play October baseball. And the fans get to watch fall baseball.





       A lot has happened in the last 29 years....a lot. If you sit there and think what life was like in 1985 and what life is like now, it will blow your mind. I grew from a crazy boy who wanted to be an author to a father of five who counsels teens for a living. But one thing hasn't happened...a Royals playoff appearance. And one thing hasn't changed....my love of the Royals. And tomorrow I get to share that excitement with my son. And he gets to sit beside me on the couch next week and watch our first playoff game together. If I did this with my brothers or Dad in 1985, I can't remember it. I just hope my son remembers this moment when he is a father someday. I know I will. Go Royals!